NAD: But is it broken?

gearaddict

Just buyed a one of these:


...it's a Laney LC30 and very awesome it is too. But...when I first tried the clean channel (admittedly I had the amp a couple of days before I tried this ) there was no sound out of it. I turned the gain all the way up and then I got some farty noises. I swapped guitars and it was fine. Then it wasn't. Then it was. Now it seems consistently fine.

Should I sent it back or could it just be a slightly unseated valve due to shipping or something? Maybe I should pull them all out and stick them back again.

ThePrettyDamned

I'm going to say make sure the valves are in properly. It could also be a dodgy jack - if switching guitars helped to start off with, it might have helped jar the connection in place. No idea how easy they are to replace, but hopefully a proper tech will be along.

When my lh50 (el34 version of the lc) conked out, it was a preamp valve that died.

ICBM

Sounds like a simple repair if there is a fault, so I wouldn't send it back if that involves shipping hassle/risk. If it does prove to be definitely faulty and not just a loose valve, contact the seller and ask for something towards the cost of the repair, and just put it down to experience if they won't.

gearaddict

It's new...from a shop.

ICBM

gearaddict said:

It's new...from a shop.

Ah. So it's under warranty, in which case you shouldn't pay for a repair - which may invalidate the rest of the warranty if not done by an authorised repairer. In that case if the fault comes back within 7 days you have the option of returning it under the DSRs and you don't have to pay return shipping if you want a full refund - only make it available for collection. After that, you'd be best to contact the shop - you still shouldn't have to pay return shipping on a warranty repair, but some insist that you do and they'll refund you afterwards… not sure what the legal situation is on that. Be nice to begin with unless they get silly .

gearaddict

ThePrettyDamned said:

I'm going to say make sure the valves are in properly. It could also be a dodgy jack - if switching guitars helped to start off with, it might have helped jar the connection in place. No idea how easy they are to replace, but hopefully a proper tech will be along.

When my lh50 (el34 version of the lc) conked out, it was a preamp valve that died.

Don't think it can be a dodgy jack - when I switched to the drive channel it was fine. Would a poorly seated valve cause you to completely lose the clean channel but leave the drive channel unaffected?

thermionic

Depends on the circuit - some valves may be used in a single channel, or both.

ICBM

gearaddict said:

Would a poorly seated valve cause you to completely lose the clean channel but leave the drive channel unaffected?

Could do, yes. V1B operates only on the clean channel.

The channel switching is done with relays, so it's also possible it was a dirty contact if the amp has remained unused for a while and that the first few operations or a large amount of signal could have fixed it. If so, that's not a good sign that it won't come back at some point though.

gearaddict

Bum...I can't really be bothered sending it back but I suppose it's the sensible thing to do. Whenever I've been fussy about things and sent them back I've always ended up with something with bigger issues than the one I returned though.

ICBM

In that case I would just test it as extensively as you can in the next few days, and if the problem doesn't show up again it's probably fine. It does sound like something that could have happened in shipping or if it's been in storage for a while.

It can't be anything more serious than a bad contact or at worst a faulty relay, I don't think. The worst case scenario is that it could need a repair in the £20-£30 range probably, if it does come back after the warranty is up.

It's a very close call either way, so I understand why you can't decide!

gearaddict

Clean channel started cutting out again today so I guess that settles it...bum. I think getting a replacement shouldn't be an issue. I'm kind of wondering whether to change it for the EL34 version - I'm finding the bass response slightly flubby. Although that might be the 70/80 speaker.